In the dead of night on May 21, Donald Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) pushed House Republicans to pass the GOP-led ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ a piece of legislation that aims to cut millions of people out of programs while making previous tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy.
The cuts outlined in the 1,000 pages that make up the legislation, literally called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” aim to increase funding for immigration enforcement and raise the debt limit, all while structuring down programs like Medicaid, SNAP, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, in a press release posted the day after the bill passed the house by the tightest of margins (215-214), the Republican proposals inside the bill could kick 13.7 million people off of Medicaid. As Medicaid is a crucial source of health care for low-income LGBTQ-identifying people around the country, this would also affect 22 to 25 percent of LGBTQ+ adults, including 21 percent of transgender individuals and 40 percent of people living with HIV.
Not only will programs that the LGBTQ+ community relies on be wiped out, but GOP representatives added additional legislation to the bill specifically targeting transgender people.
The reconfiguring of the bill added in a second provision, forbidding the use of federal Medicaid and CHIP funding for medically necessary health care for transgender people of all ages. Specifically, this would prevent states from offering medically necessary health care to all transgender people through ACA health plans by excluding this care from the definition of “essential health benefits,” regardless of age.
Kelley Robinson, President of HRC, gave a statement regarding the bill passing the house and what it would mean for a majority of Americans if signed into law in its current state.
“People in this country want policies and solutions that make life better and expand access to the American Dream. Instead, anti-equality lawmakers voted to give handouts to billionaires built on the backs of hardworking people, with devastating consequences for the LGBTQ+ community,” the statement reads.
“If the cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP or resources like Planned Parenthood clinics weren’t devastating enough, House Republicans added a last-minute provision that expands its attacks on access to best practice health care to transgender adults. This cruel addition shows their priorities have never been about lowering costs or expanding health care access–but in targeting people simply for who they are. These lawmakers have abandoned their constituents, and as they head back to their districts, know this: they will hear from us.”